


Imperfect dreams

by vanishing_apples



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Also they're adults and dating, Cats, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 02:53:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15832275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanishing_apples/pseuds/vanishing_apples
Summary: The struggles of You the former wildlife photographer and Chika the animal shelter worker. Pseudo-parenthood and finding ways to include each other in their respective lives may be daunting, but together they can surely brave all obstacles. Together, and whatever else motivational pop songs sing of. Probably cats and cakes.





	Imperfect dreams

**Author's Note:**

> A gift to my beloved friend Koyomi. I hope this is enough to power you through at least one year of grad school without the help of energy drinks.

Cold beeps of the digital alarm rained down on their heads like bullets from atop their bedside drawer. Chika groaned in the midst of a jaw-dislocating yawn, her hand instinctively swatted the accursed thing to the floor to silence it. That was You’s cue to wake up.

“Chika-chan.” - You moaned into her girlfriend’s arm-pillow, voice encrusted with drowsiness.

“Wut.” - Chika mumbled back in mild irritation, barely awake.

“Go feed the baby.”

“Hnnnggg.”

“Are you a quitter, Takami Chika?”

Chika exhaled a long sigh that sounded too much like a tiny, elongated “nooooo”. She had hardly slept through two hours, and almost a week of this routine was killing her slowly. Being a quitter was the last thing she wanted, but the winter nights had been harsh and anyone would think twice about subjecting themselves to 3AM temperatures. 

As if to take refuge from the You-alarm, Chika retreated further under the covers like a turtle withdrawing into its shell. Her eyes still closed, You’s icy cold foot - armed with razor sharp nails - pressed against Chika’s calf, earning from her a ghastly yelp. 

Chika was finally awake.

“Thanks, You-chan.”

“You’re welcome.” - You yawned before promptly going back to sleep.

As per her insistence, You had hidden away Chika’s indoor slippers before they went to sleep. Met with the frigid, uncarpeted floor outside their bedroom, the bare sole of Chika’s foot screamed a chill up her spine. With every single, painful step towards the kitchen, her wakefulness returned. Even the sleep-inducing bubbling of the kettle couldn’t lull her back to sleep after that trip. 

Chika returned with a bottle of freshly mixed formula in hand, infinitely thankful for the soft carpet once again cushioning her steps. The electric carrier next to their bed quietly hummed with warmth. She opened its lid, smiling.

“Time to eat, sweetie.”

The little kitten perked up with a tiny mew at the familiar sound of her voice, even as its ears remained folded and eyelids still glued shut. Its head awkwardly bobbed around searching for the bottle’s nipple. Chika held its neck firmly in place, then gently pushed the plastic nipple into the kitten’s waiting mouth. She was ecstatic to see it latch on and eat with voracious appetite - testament to the great progress of survival it had made since being orphaned and entering her care. 

The kitten’s fuzz-covered belly soon ballooned round, full of milk. Chika settled it back in the heated nest of baby blankets, closed the carrier before heading for her own bed. Her sleep-clouded mind made a vague association between You - curled into a fetal position - with the tiny, round loaf of kitten at the foot of their bed. Pressing a soft kiss into You’s hair as she would the kitten’s furry tummy, Chika plopped back down her pillow and immediately dozed off from exhaustion.

\---

“Oh, hold on a second, Chika.”

Chika paused in the middle of tapping on her shoe against the ground, turning around to face the shelter’s head caretaker with the most energetic smile her worn facial muscles could muster.

“You still need my help with something, ma’am?”

She must have looked horrendously sleep-deprived despite the effort, because the woman’s face froze in an uneasy smile.

“...You’re doing fine with little Azuki, right?”

“Oh yes! I told you she’s doing excellent. Her eyes are opening up, and she can meow without sounding raspy now, which means the respiratory infection is gone…”

“I mean you, Chika. Are you managing alright? Are the both of you alright?” - The head caretaker’s voice was laden with concern. Chika’s eyes widened.

“I’m perfectly fine, ma’am! You-chan is helping a lot, too, so I’m not too tired or anything. Just gotta practice those power naps!” 

Chika made a show of swinging her arms about as proof of her energy level. They dropped limply at her sides in mere seconds. She quietly cursed their betrayal. Caring for orphaned neo-natals was a full-time job that demanded her attention almost round the clock. Newborn kittens had to be fed in fixed intervals of mere two to three hours, leaving her little time to sleep. Chika loved her job, however, and was ecstatic to receive her first neonatal barely a week ago. Having Azuki taken away from her due to any indication of her own incompetence was the last thing she wanted.

The woman shook her head, but shoulders still relaxed in relief. Chika took it as her being at least somewhat convinced of her determination.

“That’s good to hear. Speaking of You, I wanted to thank her for her help with the adoptions lately.”

“Oh, you mean with Sweetpea.”

Sweetpea was an elderly, one-eyed tortie that had been a resident of their shelter for an extended amount of time. Due to her advanced age and physical defect, no visitors had been willing to take her in and the shelter’s staff had worried they would soon be forced to put her to sleep. Thankfully, a kindly old couple agreed to adopt her just that morning. But Chika’s short-circuiting mind had failed to make the connection between the fortunate event with You just as it took place.

“Yep. Old Mr. and Mrs. Hashimoto said they saw her in our new pamphlet and was awestruck by how majestic she looked. ‘Like a miniature, battle-scarred lion’ were their own words. They immediately fell in love with her.” 

Chika’s chest puffed out with pride even though the achievement was technically You’s. In all honesty, they had been together for so long certain experiences felt uncannily shared, almost as if they sometimes inhabited the same body. But Chika no longer had the compulsion to reason away such feelings. Inappropriate or not, she was always ready to sing praises of her girlfriend’s prodigious talent for animal photography.

“So Sweetpea got adopted thanks to You-chan’s photos. See, ma’am, I told you her works are imbued with magic!”

The woman gave an amused chuckle at Chika’s unbridled enthusiasm. The topic of You always seemed to suck the fatigue right out of her in the blink of an eye. Perhaps You really had some magic up her sleeves.

“Yes, yes. And it’s not just Sweetpea. Many of our other older friends have been adopted thanks to the new pamphlets, too. So I would like to send her my utmost gratitude.”

Chika opened her mouth, a hair’s width away from going on a tangent about how it wasn’t a big deal and providing excruciating detail on the way You carried out her work. But the head caretaker was accustomed enough to this conversational trajectory, and pushed the paperbag she had been holding into Chika’s hand before the dam broke.

“...Cake?”

“Our thanks to You. And you too, for your hard work with Azuki.”

The glee radiating from Chika’s face was blinding enough for the woman to squint slightly, but it could just be the smile pulling at her own cheeks.

“Thank you, ma’am! Have a nice evening!”

With a bow, Chika turned around on her heels a little too quickly and almost spun herself off balance. She managed to find her bearing on time, but a small photo album came tumbling out of her satchel due to the momentum. It flipped open on the floor, revealing stunning pictures of deer grazing away in Nara park and monkeys leisurely taking a dip in Oita hot springs. Without the need for explanations, the head caretaker could immediately tell they were authored by You. 

Chika gathered the album up a little too quickly, however, leaving her robbed of a chance to take a closer look at them. Before she could even utter a goodbye in return, the spritely girl had already bolted out the door. 

The slight twinge of regret on Chika’s face as she folded the album close must have been imagined, the woman thought to herself.

\---

You was having a hard time keeping Konpeitou still on the pink cushion, laying flat on her stomach with camera in one hand and a toy in the other.

“Good boy, look this way for mommy.” - She mumbled, hopelessly waving the feathered end of the stick in the eight week old kitten’s face to direct its gaze to an angle where afternoon sunbeams could backlight its fur just. right.

Without Chika playing the assistant, she was having a mighty struggle. The kitten refused to sit still and what’s worse, she couldn’t withdraw the feather wand fast enough from its grabby little claws. Once the kitten’s jaws were clamped down at the thing, there was no taking Konpeitou’s toy away from him. 

“Oh come on. The deadline for your adoption profile is closing in I just need. One shot, Konpeitou. One!”

You grabbed the kitten and tickled its belly in frustration. It only caused Konpeitou to drop the feather wand and latch onto her hand instead, giving it the full treatment of razor sharp claws and prickly teeth. Prying the little thing off granted her three fresh scratches to one hand. Three more to add to the crisscrossing tapestry of wounds marking her entire arm since she began helping Chika’s shelter with adoption work. Three more to hide from her girlfriend. You sighed in defeat.

“If you insist on being uncooperative then how about I just take photos of you being just that, huh? Uncooperative little rascal?”

Uncooperative… Wait… _That’s it!_ A figurative light bulb cast its radiance over You, and she grabbed her gears as well as Konpeitou with much enthusiasm before heading for the front lawn.

Konpeitou’s gold and brown stripes were almost too effective in camouflaging him among the tall grass. He looked like a small tiger in its natural environment - exactly what You had had in mind. Setting her shutter speed to as high as it could go without compromising too much exposure, she laid close to the ground in wait. You’s patience soon rewarded her with a snap of Konpeitou launching himself into the air after a grasshopper, then another one of him stalking an insect. Another one of him dashing up their persimmon tree, and another of him rolling around in the grass. 

Konpeitou had a blast playing in the confined outdoors of their lawn, and You felt like she was back in the field again. Wildlife owed no photographer any amount of cooperation, and wild little Konpeitou was just the same. In fact, being in their natural environments and acting as their instincts implored was when they shined the brightest.

You had already acquired all the shots she needed, but engrossed in her work, the shutter of her camera kept firing away. Only the upside-down face of Chika entering her vision managed to shatter You’s concentration. 

“Yikes! You startled me.”

“Oh, did I?” - Chika asked, mischief peppering her voice with a fragmented giggle. She planted a quick kiss on You’s forehead, which got the other girl burst out laughing as well.

“Welcome home, Chika-chan.”

“Yep, I’m home. And I’ve got something for you.”

You almost forgot about Konpeitou, who was still wrestling with a fallen twig, when the bag of cakes was dropped before her. She hastily gathered up her equipment while Chika went to retrieve the kitten.

“Nice! Dinner is ready but we’re just fresh out of fruits for dessert. Thank you.”

“You can thank the head caretaker when you visit the shelter next time. That’s her reward to you for getting Sweetpea adopted.”

You flashed Chika a grin that stretched almost to her ears, scratching the back of her head in gratitude.

“Oh, definitely. She’s too kind.”

They nearly rushed through dinner in anticipation of its finale, only interrupted once for Chika to go feed Azuki as per scheduled. They were excited for different reasons, however. 

“Just dump the whole thing out, You-chan.” - Chika was rocking back and forth on the two front legs of her chair, Konpeitou purring away with a full belly on her lap. 

“But what if I crushed them?”

You carefully pulled the cake box out of the bag. To Chika’s relief, what she had been eager to have in You's hands came with it.

“That's weird. What patisserie gives out free travel brochures to accompany the purchase?”

You almost tossed the thing aside. Chika thankfully stopped her just in time. 

“Th-they don't! Take a closer look at it, at least?”

It was cute how slow You could be at picking up hints, but that cuteness almost cost Chika a nice brochure that she had to go out of her way and take a different route home to get. Met with a dumbfounded stare from the slow idiot in question, she instinctively massaged the neurosis out of her temple. 

“But why?” - You was seriously still under the impression the brochure was some sort of store-provided padding for the cake box. 

Chika rolled her eyes, then proceeded to flip over right to the page she had bookmarked for You to see. It was a full two-page colour spread of red crowned cranes stretching their wings in dance, with the great blue sky of Hokkaido in the background. You’s eyes widened in realisation.

Their conversation went on disjointed and in fragments. Years together had rendered so that not every word between them must be vocalised. 

“You already had this whole thing planned, didn't you Chika-chan.” - You sighed, defeated. - “So when?”

“Next February, the best time for red crowned crane photography.” - Chika beamed as she pushed a forkful of cake into You's mouth. 

“I've told you, many times…” 

You's eyes narrowed slightly at the little cross of fingers Chika held up at her, imploring her to swallow the bite before continuing. She did, and took solace in the way the approving smile returned to her girlfriend’s face. 

“That you don't have to feel guilty, or feel compelled to do anything like this. I'm perfectly happy as a cat photographer and being able to see you every single day. This is my dream.”

“But You-chan, I don't feel guilty! You're misunderstanding my intentions again. And also…”

You had shoved a forkful of cake into _her_ mouth this time, as if to exact revenge. It definitely was, if the small devilish grin on her face was anything to go by. 

“... Aren't you living an imperfect dream?”

“N-no. I'm not!” - You waved a dismissive hand. Almost a bit too frantically. 

“Oh yes you are, young lady. What kind of photographer shoots a kitten in the grass like they would a lion in a savanna, if they don't miss wildlife photography at least a little?”

She got her there. You fell silent. Chika allowed her the time to simmer in contemplation. For a while, only Konpeitou’s content little purrs from being scratched behind the ears filled the space between them. Then Chika finally raised her voice again, when she knew You was ready. 

“Look, I'm not feeling guilty for your life choices, so you shouldn't feel so about mine.”

“But if it's not guilt then…”

“You-chan, let me finish. It's not guilt. Didn't you say you were happy we got to embark on this adventure of kitten parenthood together? That it felt like doing school idol things with me again?”

“... Yeah, I did.”

“Then do the same for me, this time. Take me on an adventure with you as the knowledgeable tour guide. Allow me to see _you_ in your natural environment, doing what you love.”

You felt ready to burst into tears on the spot. Chika’s fingers combing through her hair was the final hairline crack that broke the dam of self-restraint completely. You had thought she would be the one to enable Chika’s dreams at last, but Chika always found some way to flip the favour on its head. Too often You would ask herself what she had done for to be deserving of such love and attention, only to be silently ensured that the question warranted no answer. 

“Don't salt the cake, silly.” - Chika laughed. 

“Whose fault do you think that is?” - You also laughed through her tears. 

Neither of them could wait till the following February. Hopefully, a few more orphaned kittens and many sleepless nights to come would bring the anticipated month to them in a breeze.


End file.
